600,000 Droids Deployed in 2009?
Verizon, though it refuses to divulge sales numbers for Motorola’s (MOT) new Droid handset, says it has been “very pleased” with demand for the device so far. And no wonder: According to Mark McKechnie of Broadpoint AmTech, Verizon (VZ) is on track to sell 600,000 Droids during the fourth quarter of 2009.
“Most stores we contacted reported strong follow-through sales last week and have received ‘re-stocks’ following the initial launch,” says McKechnie. “We had guesstimated ~ 200k Verizon-only ‘sell in’ prior to the launch. We now expect at least another 200k by Black Friday and 150-200k through the remainder of the holiday season, which gets us to our 600k forecast for the quarter. All stores appear ‘well stocked’ with none reporting shortages….Our checks with stores indicate no issues with returns of the Droid.”
Evidently, Verizon’s Droid saturation campaign, with a budget estimated at $100 million, is paying off–despite its impersonal sci-fi positioning.